Cross Academy Elementary
by LeaNicolaie
Summary: AU - Snippets of some of Yuuki's typical days at work. Being a teacher to over dramatic temperamental boys isn't always easy... K Z I
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello! :D I'm here with more nonsensical dribbles/drabbles/whatever else people call them short thingamabobs, and hope you all like it :)

I don't know if there's a need to make things clear prior to reading this, but just in case this raises some O.o-ness, Yuuki is an elementary school teacher (more specifically, for the first graders) and little Kaname, Ichiru, and Zero are her students. Aidou is a kid too, but in another class. Most, if not all, will be from Yuuki's side of things, so the kids' thoughts won't have an active role.

Warning: Mm...only if screaming kids aren't your thing XD That and maybe a bit of baby-slash between our favorite boys. I've made them pretty obsessed...

Disclaimer: To quote someone else, 'People, it's _fan_fiction'.

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**Cross Academy Elementary**

Cross Yuuki loved her job. Really she did. There was no better motivation for getting up every morning than the little munchkins she had to look after at Cross Academy. She would do anything, absolutely anything (within reason and legality) for the precious angels she was entrusted with.

It was just, sometimes, they could really try on her patience, which she prided herself on having a fair amount on.

Holding in a heaving sigh, she smiled warily towards one particular group of children who meant the world to her. Currently involved in a shouting match.

"I _said_ get away from him!"

"He doesn't _want_ to!"

"Yes he _does_!"

"No he _doesn't_!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"_Yes_!"

And what was the subject of all the shouting doing as he was so viciously fought over? Playing with a set of trains, licking his lollipop. His complete attention was on setting up the most complicated railroad line with his limited materials.

Yuuki supposed anyone would learn to develop some selective hearing if they had to endure the inevitable fights every single day.

And the only way to stop those two was when—

"Stop it." It was softly spoken, he hardly ever raised his voice, but it might as well have been a scream if the reactions of the two shouters were anything to go by.

"S-sorry, I didn't break it did I?"

"Yeah, he's an idiot, but he wouldn't do it on purpose!"

"I know, but you almost stepped on the rails. Next time, you might, so stop it."

"Okay."

"Yeah, sorry Zero."

And they quietly settled around him to help with his railroad building as though the fight never occurred. She didn't know whether to be amused or worried at the relieved sighs of the other children and staff members.

Yuuki remembered having to step in between them during another one of their tug-of-wars and nearly ended up with a bald spot on her head for her efforts. Kuran Kaname and Kiryuu Ichiru, otherwise so docile and polite, turned into complete terrors when Kiryuu Zero was involved.

Some of the more gossip prone teachers joked the two must be bi-polar or whatnot due to their sudden changes in attitude and behavior. For just as quick as it was for them to lose composure, it was just as easy for them to regain it. And the trigger for both was Zero.

Sayori, a fellow colleague, once proposed the idea of keeping the boys in separate classrooms, much to the misfortune of two innocent teachers. For if they thought keeping them together was bad enough, it was worse when they were apart.

Ichiru had refused to sit still for longer than five minutes before trying to sneak out to see Zero, and Kaname, ever the model student, managed to reign himself in only to let loose even more drastically during breaks and recess.

In order to keep damage to a minimum, it was decided they needed to have Zero in the same room with them at all times, and Yuuki, who's track record was the cleanest when it came to dealing with them, became their permanent homeroom teacher.

She didn't mind it. As she said, she loved them to death. She just wondered how and why they came to be so fixated on one person. Zero seemed to function well on his own, so was it just a one-sided thing?

"Yuuki, how do you deal with those two?"

"Eh? Oh, Yori-chan," she smiled. "Ah, I don't know. They're nice boys though."

"Everyone knows they're nice boys, Yuuki," Sayori smiled wryly. "When they're on their own."

"Well, keeping Zero with them helps a lot," she answered slowly. "They might fight because of him, but they stop because of him too."

"I feel bad for Zero-kun," Sayori said softly, sending the boy a sympathetic glance. "If I had to deal with that everyday, I might as well go insane. I'm surprised he hasn't snapped already."

Yuuki giggled nervously. "Really Yori-chan, they're not that bad."

Sayori shook her head. "Hopefully, this'll just be another thing to laugh about when they get older."

"Kiryuu!" A high-pitched shriek sounded across the room. Yuuki cringed and Sayori groaned.

"There goes another one." She muttered. Just as Kaname and Ichiru were attached to Zero, Aidou Hanabusa (and Souen Ruka, though at a more discreet level) was just as attached to Kaname. Every time he came over to Yuuki's class to look for the pale brunet, there was always another battle to be fought over, deciding whether or not the blond would be awarded with Kaname's presence for the day.

"What?" Both Kiryuu boys looked up disinterestedly.

"The _older_ one!" The high-pitched shriek demanded.

"What?" Zero drawled, eyes already back on the trains.

"You took Kaname-sama from us again!"

"He did not!" Ichiru shouted.

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did _too_!"

"Aidou!"

And now Kaname was involved.

"But Kaname-sama!"

"I want to stay with Zero. Don't you like being with Kain and Ruka?"

"Uh, yes."

"Then it is the same for me with Zero. I like him, so therefore I want to stay with him."

"But you like us too, right Kaname-sama?"

"Yes, but I don't like you as much as I like Zero. I want to stay with him more."

"Ka-Kaname-sama!" A loud wail. Yuuki got up worriedly. Sayori held her back with an amused smile.

"Ha!" Ichiru laughed. "Of course he does! Duh! Everybody likes Zero!"

"_I_ don't!" Aidou cried. "I _hate_ him!"

The hated boy in question continued to suck on his lolly.

"What did you say?" Ichiru's small hands balled in fists and Yuuki could see he was ready to spring at any moment. Sayori too, got up beside her, finally starting to look a bit concerned.

"Aidou…" Kaname didn't look at all happy either. "You wouldn't like it if I told you I hated you. Don't say that to Zero."

"But," Aidou, the little blond, looked to be on the verge of a breakdown, large pools of tears gathering in his wide blue eyes. "But he doesn't even like you back!" He pointed an angry finger towards the older twin. "All he does is eat his candy and play with toys – by him_self_!"

In the silence that followed, muffled crunching could be heard from Zero biting into his lollipop.

"He does _so_ like him back!" Ichiru took a menacing step forward, unknowingly giving aid to his rival just for the simple sake of refuting Aidou's claim.

Kaname on the other hand, didn't say anything for himself in his defense, biting his lips with a mournful look towards the object of his obvious affections.

Aidou, catching onto the proverbial chink in their armor, took full advantage of it, his eyes gleaming with triumph. "No he doesn't! He doesn't even _say_ anything!" He crowed. "If he did like Kaname-sama, he would have _said_ so!"

Even Ichiru couldn't come up with anything around _that_. He sent a curious look to his brother. "Zero, you like him right?"

Soft crunching.

"Zero?" Ichiru pressed. Kaname just looked more anxious.

There was a pause in the crunching in which Zero slowly looked up from his seat on the floor. His eyes were impassive as he spoke. "You're all dumb. I don't like any of you right now."

The words had a devastating affect on all three surrounding boys. Ichiru went pale as a sheet, Kaname following not long after, but his eyes also welled with tears, and Aidou blinked before laughing uproariously.

Just as Yuuki decided it was time to step in, Aidou's laughter came to an abrupt stop only to be replaced by a cry of horror as he clutched his face. "You!" He said raggedly, glaring death at Zero. "You… You just _kissed_ me! _Ew_!" And he did have a right to be fairly disgusted, Yuuki saw, as his hand came away faintly colored from the lollipop and sticky.

Zero smiled a sweet smile, his lips a violent cherry red from his candy with a wet sheen accentuating its bright color.

Giving another glare, Aidou ran off with hardly any of the victorious dignity he'd gained.

Another bout of silence ensued until there was a soft sniff and a whimper.

"Zero? We're sorry we made you mad. Please don't hate us!"

Kaname nodded emphatically, clutching at his shirt as he trembled.

As ridiculous as their wild reactions were, Yuuki couldn't help but feel for them, her own heart giving a pitiful twinge. Their emotional wellbeing counted so much on Zero's words. Surely he would grant them a bit of mercy?

But the older twin could be terribly blunt sometimes…

Zero gave his two shadows an assessing glance before his expression softened. "You guys _were_ dumb, you know." He started. "But I said that to make the other dumb one go away and I never said I hated you."

"Can I get a make-up kiss?" Ichiru implored. The kisses were another Kiryuu twins thing before it turned into a Kiryuu twins plus Kaname thing.

Apparently, the brothers' parents had taught them when you forgave someone, a proper 'make-up' kiss was in order, and no one had told them differently. The teachers all thought it adorable and saw nothing wrong with their show of childish affection.

Zero made an exasperated show of rolling his eyes, but smiled and nodded, licking his lips clean before pressing them against his brother's cheek. He turned and did the same for Kaname before Ichiru had time to protest.

"Well, it's okay this time, I guess," the younger boy allowed grudgingly. He did frown when he saw that Zero was dabbing the end of his sleeve against Kaname's face. "What are you doing?"

His question went unheeded as Zero softly murmured, "Don't cry for dumb reasons, Kaname, I do like you." He cleanly ignored Kaname's muttered reply of, "It's _not_ a dumb reason," and simply quieted him with another chaste kiss to his other cheek.

"What about me?" Ichiru pouted, already knowing the answer and wanting to hear it anyway.

"You too Ichiru."

And as Yuuki watched the beaming smile on his face, she amended maybe it wasn't all one-sided on their part, since Zero never responded so well with the other kids either. Only Kaname and Ichiru seemed capable of pulling out more than a few monotonous words or a blank gaze.

"So that's how you deal with them," Sayori laughed quietly, "you don't deal with them at all. They seem to know how to resolve things on their own." She sent Zero a particularly shrewd glance. "Better keep an eye on that one. He knows more than you think he does." The young Kiryuu heir wasn't completely unaware of how strong of a hold he had on his brother and the Kuran boy. What he said in front of Aidou had been deliberate, most likely to drive the blond away as quickly as possible, and when that didn't work, he went with just plainly grossing him out by kissing him, knowing how much the blond disliked him.

And he'd done it just as Yuuki was about to take things into her own hands.

As passive as he seemed, for a six-year-old, he knew how to play his cards well enough, knowing how to utilize people's reactions to his benefit.

Though she did doubt the boy knew just how deep Kaname and Ichiru's affections ran, and she wondered if she'd stay long enough to see its outcome. The Academy did run all the way through high school…

Yuuki laughed softly, "Um, yeah, that's how it usually goes, but you see, they're not bad, right? It's nice to see them care about each other so much."

"You think it'll last?" Sayori asked, almost curious.

"Mm…dunno, everything seems like forever when you're that young," Yuuki said wistfully.

"Well, at least it's guaranteed they'll look good when they're older," Sayori shrugged.

"…Yori-chan?"

"Don't tell me you can't tell," she teased. The boys were adorable, one of the many reasons they were so doted upon by many of the staff members. It even made some of the other parents envious, seeing such perfection in a young child. Kaname, especially, held a lot of attention for his delicate features.

And when the boys' parents had come in for conference day… The looks and stares seemed never ending.

"Well, at least the most dramatic part of your day is over," Sayori smiled, "the rest of it will probably be easy to handle."

"Kaname-sama!"

And in came Souen Ruka.

Exchanging a glance, not even Yuuki could hold in a wary sigh this time.

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And thank you for reading! Now that I look back on it, maybe I should change it to pre-school or something...XD


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hello again, I guess. Things are coming to settle a little more in RL, so I've crapped out another chapter :D Hope you guys enjoy~

Yuuki's still the teacher, though in this one, Ichiru takes on a bigger role compared to Zero and Kaname.

Disclaimer: Same as first chapter :)

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**Cross Academy Elementary 2  
**

Yuuki hummed to herself as she finished knitting another row to the scarf she planned to give her father at the end of the year. It wasn't anything fancy, just simple patterns against a rich creamy yellow. The color reminded her of her father's favorite custard filled cream puffs he could never seem to get enough of.

Starting on another row, she blinked when small hands pulled her in-progress scarf down and a pair of sullen eyes peered over them.

Awkward silence.

"…Yes, Ichiru-kun?"

"Be my pet."

Pardon? She blinked again. "…Your pet…?"

"Yeah. We should have a dog, but we don't have a real dog, so you have to be our dog."

Looking behind him, she caught sight of Zero idly fingering Kaname's hair, who had his head on Zero's lap, eyes closed in a doze. Scattered around them were toy versions of various household tools and objects, all ranging from a small table to cups and plates, chopsticks and knives as well as a teapot.

Ah. So that was it.

Smiling amusedly, she nodded. "Okay, I can be your dog. What's my name?" She set aside her scarf and went on her hands and knees.

"Yuuki-sensei." Ichiru said matter-of-factly.

Oh. "All right. Are you going to walk me?"

"No, we're going to play fetch." Ichiru already had a ball in hand. The lime green tinge to it was on the verge of fading and there were numerous scuffmarks from long-term use.

Eying the ball warily, Yuuki hoped Ichiru didn't expect her to actually fetch like a dog.

"Make sure you don't hit anything," she cautioned, seeing him pull his arm back for a healthy throw, "not too strong, okay?"

"Yeah."

And Ichiru promptly turned around for a scarily accurate shot at Kaname, who yelped and immediately sat up as the ball bounced cleanly off his head.

"Ow." Kaname rubbed at his forehead, hurt and confused.

Zero gently pushed Kaname's hand aside to replace with his own. "Shh. Go back to sleep." He didn't bother to look to see where the ball came from, his attention completely set on keeping Kaname comfortable.

The smug satisfaction on Ichiru's face suddenly dropped and the sullen glare was back.

"Stupid Kaname."

"Ichiru-kun, that wasn't very nice." Yuuki frowned. "You shouldn't throw things at other people."

"I wanted to." Ichiru crossed his arm obstinately. "It's his fault he made me mad."

Oh dear. "Why do you think he made you mad?" Did she have an oncoming tantrum on her hands?

The sullen glare turned fierce. "He's not letting Zero play. He can sleep on the mats but he sleeps on Zero!"

Yuuki tilted her head, taking another look at the rest of the two-thirds of the usual troublemaking trio.

Ichiru could be right; Zero did seem to have his hands full keeping Kaname accommodated, but he didn't look bothered by the task, more worried than anything else. Kaname was surprisingly subdued since this morning, she remembered, quiet in a way that was different from his characteristic politeness. He still did his work, handed in all of his homework, answered questions properly in every class, but he was working on autopilot.

She hadn't a clue how or why, or if she should even be overly concerned by it, and knew if she took Kaname aside to ask, she would only get gentle deflections.

"Does Zero-kun not like it? Is he sad he can't play?"

Here, Ichiru's folded arms grew tighter, his small shoulders tense, but his fierce expression toned down to a mere pout. "No," he grumbled. "Zero said he was fine."

"Then that's not what you're mad about, is it? What about Kaname-kun is making you mad?" She had a fair idea, but she needed Ichiru himself to fully recognize the source of his anger.

"He's, Kaname's… Zero didn't say…" Ichiru roughly shook his head. "Zero likes Kaname better! That's why he's not playing! I want him to play with me, but he won't!"

The actual pain he was feeling was starting to show in his eyes. Yuuki patted his back and silently invited him to sit with her.

"You know he likes both of you, very much, Ichiru-kun. Remember the other day, when Hanabusa-kun came? I think he told you he likes you then, right? You all kissed and made up."

"But he won't play with me."

She could tell he was trying to hold out on his gradually unconvincing argument for the sake of holding out, and prodded, "Should he have to play with you even when he doesn't want to? There're times you don't want to play and times you do. I've seen you and Zero-kun sit and read without any toys at break."

"…Zero listens to _him_ more."

"But he listens to you over Kaname-kun too, right? Like when you wanted to play tag and Kaname-kun wanted to read, he chose to play tag with you." That had been another epic fight between the two, which Zero had quickly solved without bloodshed.

"Kaname-kun was a little different today," she tried to sound casual. "He looked sad."

Ichiru visibly twitched and his pout became less pronounced.

"Do you think something happened to him over the weekend?"

It was a while before Ichiru spoke up. "…He never says anything when he comes to us. He just sits there and feels bad until we come. Everybody says he's smart, but he's dumb sometimes.

"He didn't say anything this time either. He feels bad but he doesn't. His mom and dad know, but they always make it worse."

He was trembling, face set in a bemused scowl.

Yuuki nodded encouragingly. "You're worried, too, just like Zero-kun." If anyone were to notice on the changes, it would be Zero and Ichiru. But it was easier to channel the worry into anger, which was what Ichiru was more prone to dealing with in himself, and the surefire way to find excuse to keep the anger burning was to somehow pin it down on not being able to play with Zero, to replace his concerns for Kaname into 'anger' and blame him for taking Zero's attention away.

It was one of the strange quirks she had come to see in him since becoming his teacher. With Zero, there were no roundabout ways of showing his feelings, he said them and recognized them straight out, but when it came to expressing those same exact feelings to someone else, a block automatically came into place to prevent him from facing them head on.

She half suspected it was the absolute trust Ichiru had in Zero to accept whatever he threw at him, physically and emotionally, that allowed for his honesty. The same couldn't said for anyone else, which in turn made him twist his feelings into something else altogether to deal with them in a more familiar way.

"It's okay to say you're worried, Ichiru-kun. You can tell them that."

He scowled again. "Only to Zero. I'm not telling Kaname." Huffing, he planted his elbows at his knees and his chin in his hands. "Zero knows already anyway."

Yuuki smiled. So he did. Maybe that was why he didn't react to the ball throwing. He didn't even send a remotely disapproving look their way, focused on settling Kaname down.

She playfully poked at his round cheek. "Just because he knows, doesn't mean you don't have to tell him."

Ichiru shrugged, swiping her hand away from his face. "Kaname got to sleep with Zero. That makes up for everything."

"You should still apologize for throwing the ball at him," Yuuki said wryly, knowing exactly what Ichiru was referring to when he mentioned 'makes up'. "He couldn't even defend himself."

Ichiru shot her an annoyed glare, one she was fairly used to. Unless he was able to associate things (and people) with Zero or Kaname, he often found them irritating and not worth dealing with. It wouldn't matter if he were facing the prime minister; the man wouldn't matter a wit if he had no connections to Zero or Kaname.

Staring at his young profile, she suddenly had a vague, strange thought pass through her mind and snapped her gaze to the door, now realizing… "Hanabusa-kun hasn't come in today…"

Looking back at him, she leaned down until she could get a full view of his face, making him lean back in obvious discomfort. "Was it you, Ichiru-kun? Did you keep Hanabusa-kun away because Kaname-kun wasn't feeling well?"

Ichiru sent her another glare that was highly unimpressed. "So?"

Her eyes widened. Then she beamed, feeling a powerful surge of unbridled affection for the distrustful little boy in front of her. He did the darnedest things that tugged almost painfully at her heart. "Oh, Ichiru-kun! You're just a little softy on the inside, huh? Like my Dad's favorite cream puffs! Soft, tasty custard!" She poked at his cheek again.

"I can see why Zero-kun loves you so much," she laughed as he tried to fend her away, though he stopped dead at her words. "You really understand him, don't you? He's very lucky to have a brother like you."

He averted his eyes, cheeks flushed. "I…I know that, stupid."

"It's good that you do." She nodded. Too many people had no idea just how much they were needed, loved, or thought of. It was especially tragic to see it in children.

"Well." She clapped her hands. "Do you want me to go back to being the dog or should we play something else?" She paused and tilted her head. "Wait, who was who when you were playing House, Ichiru-kun?" Now that they were on the subject, she couldn't contain her curiosity. "I can see Kaname-kun as the Husband, but what about you and Zero-kun?" They couldn't both have been Wives, could they?

Ichiru snorted out a dry, 'Ha!' and replied, "You got it all wrong. _Kaname's_ the Wife. _Zero's_ the Husband. I'm the other Husband."

Oh.

"Kaname said the Wife always takes care of the Husband so he wanted to be Zero's Wife. I didn't want the same thing as Kaname, so I was the other Husband."

Ah. She nodded politely. Such sweet simplicity… Children really were amazing.

"That sounds dynamic."

He frowned. "I don't know what that means. But anyway, Zero said the Husband protects the Wife and takes care of him too, so he got Kaname to sleep. The Wife can't take care of the Husband if he's tired. I told you Kaname's dumb sometimes."

"He tends to push himself." Yuuki agreed.

"And you're a boring dog. I'm going to go read." Just like that, Ichiru was off to a new conquest.

She made sure he was far enough into the reading area before curling in on herself to let out silent gales of laughter. Shoulders shaking, she gasped quietly, desperately holding in her giggles.

They ended up erupting despite her efforts when Sayori tapped her arm, looking bemused. "What's wrong with you?"

Catching her breath, she whispered out, "Just kid drama, the usual. You know how it is."

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And no, I wasn't making digs at Yuuki by having Ichiru demand her as his 'dog' XD I hope it didn't seem that way. I've done my fair share of riding animals for kids, so I know it's not uncommon. Painful on the knees after a while, but some of the little ones love it (when you can move fast enough). I think if Yuuki were a teacher and one of her students wanted her to be an animal, she would try her best to emulate :D The imagery is definitely amusing.

"A rooster, Yuuki-sensei! Do a rooster!" Or "How bout a giraffe? Can you do a giraffe, Yuuki-sensei?"

Ah, bundles of cute XD


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